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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. spring — a coil
  4. pit — a hole
  5. spring — of water
  6. mate — a partner
  7. clip — for paper
  8. cell — a phone
  9. rule — government
  10. pit — in a race
  11. spring — the season
  12. mate — to breed
  13. bound — obliged
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. rule — a law
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. clip — a video
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. clip — to cut
  20. mate — a friend
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. bound — tied together
  23. cell — in biology
  24. bound — certain

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com